PYONGYANG - The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday called for steadily improving the country's military capabilities in response to national security threats at the opening ceremony of a military hardware exhibition.

In his speech at Defence Development-2025, Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, said the exhibition features the recent results of the important projects aimed at modernizing the structure of the country's military capabilities, with nuclear deterrent as its backbone, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday.

He stressed that the country must never allow its progress in defense capabilities to slow down. "Our military capabilities should be improved steadily."

The various kinds of exercises conducted by the United States under the so-called nuclear operations guidelines posed "a real and serious threat to the security of our country and others in the region," Kim said.

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The DPRK is closely watching the US deployment of its means of strategic strike and reconnaissance in and around the Korean Peninsula and their mobilization for hostile military acts, he said, adding that the country has adopted "clear measures."

"If the United States persists in the dangerous moves of reinforcing its military strength in blatant disregard of the security concerns of the states in the region, the developments will spur us more powerfully to implement the relevant military and technological measures aimed at removing the new threats and maintaining the balance of power," Kim said.